


Beyond These Walls

by im_just_a_sucker_for_bromance



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: 5sos cake - Freeform, Adult Content, Alternate Universe, Best Friends, Bewitched - Freeform, Books, Bottom Luke, Boys In Love, Boys Kissing, Calum Hood & Ashton Irwin Friendship, Cheating!Not Really, Established Relationship, Fluff, Ghosts, High School, Library Sex, M/M, Mixed feelings, Muke - Freeform, Paranormal, Romance, Smut, Some Humor, Spectrophilia, Top Michael, Weird, ghost!michael
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-17
Updated: 2016-03-18
Packaged: 2018-04-15 05:04:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4593879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/im_just_a_sucker_for_bromance/pseuds/im_just_a_sucker_for_bromance
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Luke stumbled upon a strange-looking book in the school library,<br/>he did not know that his life was about to change.<br/>What he did not know was that he would feel that way again,<br/>he was sure that was not going to happen again<br/>after he fell in love with Calum, his boyfriend.<br/>Who was that new boy anyway?<br/>Why does he always occupy Luke's mind?<br/>He was so charming yet so mysterious.</p><div class="center">
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	1. Chapter 1

Luke set his glasses on the table and closed his eyes, pressing the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index; he had been sitting in the school library for the past 32 minutes but was still not done with the work that he had intended to do. Looking at the papers that were scattered on the table, in front of him, Luke let out a sigh and opened his journal, pulling out a picture of him and Calum that was taken the previous summer. Oh, how he loved that boy; Calum was always there for him, Calum who could always read him like a book, Calum who knew what Luke needed even before Luke himself knew, Calum who could always bring a smile on Luke’s face, no matter how upset Luke was.

Luke’s lips tugged upward at the mere thought of the other boy and he felt himself get warm all over. The sound of a book falling onto the wooden floor brought him out of his trance, Luke closed his journal and got up, looking around the library and deciding to find another book that he could use as reference in his thesis on ‘History Of Arts’. After making his way to the art column, Luke realised that the library was currently being renovated and the books were being shifted around. _‘Great, that means, the book that I’m looking for could be anywhere.’_

Slowly, Luke walked between the shelves, scanning the books in the process and trying to find anything that could be of any use to him. An old book, with a purple and black cover, lying on the floor, caught Luke’s attention but he chose to ignore it and walk past it. However, shaking his head, Luke took two steps back and picked up the book; himself being a lover of books, he did not have the heart to see a book being treated that way. Luke frowned as he turned the unfamiliar book over and looked at the cover, surprised when he read the title. Being the booky kind of kid, he had read almost all novels found in their school library but somehow, he never came across that one.

Curiosity got the best of him and Luke flipped the cover and stared at the first supposedly blank page that bore the initials ‘M.G.C’ and nothing else. Luke repeated those three letters a few times, trying to understand what they meant but finding nothing about them, Luke shook his head and decided to go and do his work instead. Closing the book and pushing it on the shelf, Luke went on to find the book that he had intended to, in order to be done with that dissertation so that he could hang out with his boyfriend later that afternoon.

**14 minutes later…**

A strong arm wrapped itself around Luke’s neck and a kiss was planted at his temple. Luke smiled and set his pen down, turning to look at the boy, who had taken a seat beside him.

“Hey, what took you so long?” Luke whispered.

“Sorry, I had extra piano practice with Ms. Debbie for the school annual function,” Calum whispered back with an apologetic smile.

“I thought that would have been for tomorrow, after school,” Luke creased his eyebrows.

“Yeah, I have practice tomorrow too; Ms. Debbie thinks we’re not ready yet.”

“That means, I’ll not get to see you again?” Luke asked, a sad expression on his face.

“Much to my own disappointment, not really… but hey, I’m sure you’ll find something to entertain yourself in my absence,” Calum proposed. “What have you been up to?”

“Trying to finish my dissertation. It’s due in two days. So, because of your silly piano rehearsal, we won’t be able to hang out after-school for a few days?”

“Come on babe, don’t be upset; I’ll still see you at school or when you’re camping in this library,” Calum chuckled, trying to lighten up the mood.

“I don’t camp in here,” Luke protested.

“Really? How come I always find you in here?”

“I like coming here, it’s so peaceful. It inspires me.” Luke looked at his papers then back at Calum. “Can you do something for me while I gather my stuffs?”

“Of course, Love, anything for you,” Calum smiled.

“Since I need to find something to do in my time of loneliness, can you get me a book? It’s in row 8 at the top of the shelf on the right, it’s called ‘Beyond These Walls’. You won’t miss it, it has a black and purple hardcover.”

“Alright, I’ll get it for you.”

Calum hummed low in his throat, to the tune that he had been learning for the function, while bobbing his head as he made his way to where Luke had indicated. Sighing at the vast collection of books displayed in front of him, Calum approached the set of shelves on the right and immediately began his task. Calum ran his finger along the wooden surface as his eyes scanned the titles, looking for ‘Beyond These Walls’, with its eye-catching cover.

“Do you have it?” Luke asked when he saw Calum coming in his direction.

“Nah, it’s not there,” Calum shrugged.

“Come on,” Luke flung his backpack over his shoulder and took hold of Calum’s arm, pulling him with him. “Hi,” Luke smiled at the woman sitting behind the reception counter. “I’d like to know if somebody borrowed the book ‘Beyond These Walls’ recently, or this afternoon.”

“Sure, one moment please, I’ll just check that out.” The woman turned her attention to her computer and hit a few keys, waiting for the search result. “I’m sorry, you must surely be mistaken; we don’t have any book with that title in our database.”

“Thanks,” Luke turned to leave before he spoke to Calum. “How’s that possible? I held that book.”

“Maybe it belongs to someone and he accidentally left it there? Or maybe you read the title wrongly?” Calum proposed as he wrapped an arm around Luke’s shoulder as the two of them made their way out of the library.

“Maybe you’re right; there was actually something written on the first page, probably somebody’s initials.”

“Forget about it now… so, my house or yours?”

“Mine, I’ve got to show you the drawings I made.”

**O.O.O.O.O.O.O**

Luke was sitting at his usual table in the library, noting something from a book when he heard somebody whisper his name; it was faint but he heard it nonetheless. Looking around himself and finding no one talking to him, Luke went back to his work. He stared at his notebook and rubbed at his temples as he realised all that what he had written made no sense at all and his notebook was filled with random words scribbled across the page. Then he heard it again; that same unfamiliar voice calling his name, not once or twice but several times. Wanting to know who was disturbing him, Luke got up and walked towards the source of those voices. After taking a few steps from his chair, he heard somebody running behind him while laughing.

However, when the blonde turned around, nobody was there and suddenly he realised that the lights were dimmer and there was no one else in the library. Gulping, Luke kept moving forward until he found himself between two set of shelves. He had no idea what he was doing there but the voices calling out to him led him there; although there was no one there. A loud music startled him and Luke turned around on his spot, trying to find from where it was coming; he knew for a fact that there were no speakers close by. The music, which turned into a distorted noise, was coming from everywhere and Luke swore he could even hear somebody laughing along with it. If he had been fine all along, at that point, he was definitely freaking out.

To make it even creepier, the shelves on each sides of him were all turning blurry and fading out. Luke wanted to run, run far away from that place but it seemed as if his legs were stuck on that spot and he could not move them. The laugh got louder and darkness engulfed the whole place, except for a spot in front of him. Squinting at the bright spot, Luke realised a book was lying on the floor, a book that bore ‘Beyond These Walls’ as title. As he leant in to take hold of the said book, the floor suddenly disappeared and Luke was falling, falling into empty space until he hit something hard and he opened his eyes.

Luke panted as he opened his eyes and realised his head was resting on his regular canteen table, with his lunch still in front of him; he must have dozed off while waiting for Calum to join him. Luke took a napkin, wiped the sweat off his forehead and straightened himself, hoping he did not attract any unnecessary attention with all the screaming he did while falling. After dumping the leftover of his sandwich into the bin, Luke hoisted his backpack onto his left shoulder and exited the canteen, making his way to his favourite place; the library. However, as he neared the library door, a wave of apprehension washed over him; what if his dream was not just a dream? What if it meant something? What if it was a sign?

Shaking his head, Luke cleared his mind of those thoughts. Calum would probably laugh at him if the boy heard him. He was being stupid and he knew it; that was only a dream and nothing more. People have bad dreams every day and they do not necessarily mean something. Nonetheless, Luke peeped inside first when he reached right in front of the door; when he was sure all the lights were on and there were other students inside, he finally went in and made his way to a table. The curly head scratched his head, wondering why he went there. Then it came to him, his thesis. Humming to the tune that he had heard Calum practice so many times before, Luke made his way to the closest aisle, stopping abruptly when he noticed a familiar book lying on the floor, between the two sets of shelves.

“Whoa… this is really cree… odd. Yeah, really odd,” Luke mumbled when he remembered that there were no such book in their library. “I knew I was right and I saw you. You really are there. I’m not letting you out of my sight again.”

The curly head walked back to his table and decided to again postpone working on his thesis and instead do some sketches; he was not in the mood to do some researches but was actually inspired to draw some stuffs. Plugging his earphones, Luke opened his sketch book to a fresh page and tapped his pencil against his temple. He smiled when his pencil began working on the white paper, his hand working on their own accord. He did not know how long it had been but when he lifted his head, someone was sitting across from him, smiling at him.

“Hi,” Luke whispered as he pulled off his earphones and looked at the blonde in front of him.

“Hey, I’m Michael,” the boy in question greeted and extended an arm.

Luke eyed the hand and decided to shake it in order not to be rude. “You’re new here? I’ve never seen you before.”

“Yeah, kinda,” the other boy smiled.

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

“Hi,” Luke whispered as he pulled off his earphones and looked at the blonde in front of him.

“Hey, I’m Michael,” the boy in question greeted and extended an arm across the table.

Luke eyed the hand and decided to shake it, in order not to be rude. “You’re new here? I’ve never seen you before.”

“Yeah, kinda,” the other boy smiled and Luke could not help but smile back. “I’ve often seen you coming here.”

“I like coming here, it’s peaceful and inspiring.”

“I know what you mean. It’s my favourite place in the whole school as well.”

“I’m Luke, by the way.”

The blonde nodded and walked around the table to come on Luke’s side. Luke let his eyes roam over the boy, analysing his appearance. Michael’s platinum blonde hair was messy on his head, his shirt untucked and his tie hung loosely around his neck. His milky white skin looked so smooth and perfect. Luke bit his lip as his eyes slid lower to where the first three buttons of Michael’s shirt were opened and he could see his equally pale chest. He let his gaze linger there for a few seconds before trailing it up to the blonde’s rosy lips that were curved upward in a smile. Then they caught his attention and Luke wondered how he could have missed them. Michael’s green eyes were so beautiful; they were almost like crystals. Luke blinked and looked away when Michael cleared his throat.

“Nice drawing,” Michael observed.

Luke looked at his sketch book and quickly closed it. “It’s nothing… just some random stuffs.”

“They’re pretty cool,” Michael pulled a chair and took a seat beside Luke.

“Thanks.”

Michael leant forward and supported his head against the palm of his hand while looking at the boy in front of him. He was pretty and most definitely his type.

“Why aren’t you hanging out with your friends? I mean, it’s your free time and…” Michael asked as he kept studying the other boy. His smooth blonde hair was neatly combed, with a short fringe framing his face, the dimples on his cheeks when he talked or when his lips curved into a smile; yes, definitely his type.

“… what about you?” Luke asked and chuckled.

“What?”

“Were you even listening to me?” Luke let out a laugh as he pushed his hair behind his ears.

“I’m sorry, I got distracted.”

“By what, if I may ask?”

“Not by what. By who actually…” Michael opened his mouth and ran his tongue along his lips, wetting them.

“Ok,” Luke mumbled and tapped his pencil against his temple. “So, who’s the one that’s gotten you distracted?”

“He’s pretty, almost enchanting,” Michael started with a smile. “His alluring smile and beautiful eyes.”

“Wow,” Luke chuckled. “Umm… does he go to our school?”

“Actually, I’m looking right at him.”

Luke laughed nervously when he realised who Michael was referring to and immediately looked away. How could somebody be so straight-forward? They did not even know each other and Michael was already flirting with him. Slowly, Luke turned his eyes back to Michael, or most precisely to Michael’s left wrist where his other hand was playing with the various black and white bracelets.

“Those are nice,” Luke motioned to the wrist.

“Here,” Michael pulled on one of the black beaded bracelets and handed it to Luke.

“What? What’s that for?”

“Well, you like them,” Michael again smiled; it seemed as if all Michael ever did was smile.

“No… I was just saying,” Luke shook his head negatively.

“Seriously, you can have it.” Without waiting for an answer from the other boy, Michael slipped the bracelet around his left wrist.

“No, I can’t take that,” Luke stared at the object; after all, he did not know Michael. How could he accept a gift from him?

“Yes you can. Think of it as a token of our new friendship.”

“Token?” Luke raised an eyebrow.

“Yep, token,” Michael half-smiled-half-laughed.

Luke turned his head around when he heard the library door being closed with a loud bang; Calum. The boy would definitely get in trouble one day for doing that to the library door whenever he came in. So many times Luke had explained it to him that the library was a place where silence was meant to be maintained but he never listened.

Luke sighed, “That’s my boyfriend, Calum.”

Michael hummed as he looked at the boy who was walking in their direction. “And who’s the other cutie?”

“Ashton, Calum’s best friend.”

“Hey,” Calum grinned as he bent forward and hugged Luke.

“Hey, what are you doing here? Don’t you guys have piano practice?”

“Nah, we’re free this afternoon and we thought you’d want to hang out after school.”

“No piano practice?” Luke wriggled his eyebrows.

“Will you stop it already?” Ashton snapped as he playfully punched Luke in the arm; ever since they had started rehearsing for their school annual function, all Luke did was taunt them about their piano practice.

“What? It’s not my fault if all you two ever do is go to piano practice,” Luke laughed.

Ashton bit his lips and slowly breathed through his mouth, shaking his head at the same time; Luke could be so… “Irritating, that’s what you are.”

“What about you? What have you been up to?” Calum asked before any of the other two could say anything else.

“Oh, I totally forgot. This is Mich-” Luke turned around and stopped mid-sentence when he realised the other boy was no longer there. “Never mind, I’ll introduce you another time.”

“To whom?” Calum asked as he leant against the table.

“Michael, he’s new here. He’s pretty cool and he seemed nice.”

“Ok, shall we?” Calum asked.

“Yeah,” Luke gathered his things and exited the library with Calum and Ashton.

**~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~**

The three of them were sitting on the floor in Calum’s bedroom, while Luke was trying to teach them some cool stuffs that he had learnt on Photoshop. Ashton again laughed at something that Luke had said and Calum joined in, both of them earning a glare from the younger boy.

Luke crossed his arms over his chest. “Listen guys, if you don’t want to know, then you could just tell me instead of laughing at everything I’m saying.”

“Hey, Babe, you know it’s not the case,” Calum said, trying to calm his laughter.

“I take the pain to take time out of my spare time, go online, watch tutorials, learn these things so that I can teach you and what do you guys do? Laugh all the time. You could tell me so I can stop wasting my time.”

“You know it’s not like that,” Calum mumbled as he held one of Luke’s hand.

“Yeah, it’s not like that,” Ashton laughed. “It’s just that you have a funny way of explaining things.”

“Funny?” Luke frowned. “What do you mean funny?”

“Well, I mean funny,” Ashton shrugged.

“Stop teasing him,” Calum playfully slapped Ashton’s back.

“What? You know teasing him is my favourite thing to do. Besides, I’m bored.”

Luke huffed. “Oh, I’m sorry that my Photoshop lessons are not as fun and interesting as your piano practice.” If Ashton wanted to play that game, he should know that two could play at it.

Ashton groaned. “Not again.”

“I’m just saying and you’re asking for it, like you’re practically begging for it.”

“I’m just gonna ignore you.” Ashton turned his attention to Calum. “Do you think your mum bought that juice that I like?”

“I dunno… why don’t you check the kitchen?”

Luke shook his head as he closed the lid of Calum’s laptop. “Jerk,” he mumbled as soon as Ashton was out of hearing reach.

“Hey, your lessons were great. You’re a good teacher,” Calum smiled, rubbing his hand up and down Luke’s arm. “You know how Ash is.”

“Yeah? Why were you laughing along with him?”

“I think what you were saying were pretty cool.”

“You’re just saying.”

Calum pinched the tip of Luke’s nose playfully. “No, I’m not.”

“Yes, you are.”

“You know I’d do anything for you but lying, I’ll never lie to you.”

“You are too sweet,” Luke smiled.

“No, you’re sweeter.”

Calum cupped Luke’s cheek with one hand and pressed their lips together. Luke’s lips curved upward and he enclosed them around Calum’s bottom lip. The blonde sucked on Calum’s lip but let go and a gasp escaped his parted lips when the older boy pinched his nipple through his t-shirt. Calum laughed and took advantage of the situation to push his tongue past Luke’s parted lips. Without breaking the kiss, Luke shifted and threw a leg over Calum before wrapping his arms around the other’s neck.

“You guys scare me when you kiss like this,” Ashton, who was leaning against the doorframe, said. Luke was straddling Calum’s thighs, one of his hands was under Calum’s shirt and the other was wrapped tightly around Calum’s neck. On the other hand, Calum had a hand on Luke’s back and one on his ass while the two were heavily making-out. “It’s more like you’re sucking the life out of each other rather than kissing.”

Luke pulled away and pressed his forehead against Calum’s as he looked at Ashton. “How long have you been standing there?”

“A few seconds but you were too busy to notice me. Please don’t mind me, I’m leaving, just came to get my stuffs. Carry on,” Ashton said when Luke got off Calum’s lap. “I’ll see you two tomorrow.”

**~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~**

Luke adjusted his hoodie and bent his head as he entered the library; he only wished he did not get caught. Actually the thing was: he was bunking school. It was the due date of his thesis and oddly enough, Luke was not done with it; he did not even start working on it. Thanks to Calum and Ashton, his computer was not working. The two of them had downloaded some _‘cool’_ pirated music programs and had installed them on Luke’s PC. Since then, his computer refused to turn on again. He even thought of using his dad’s laptop but he was out of town and the laptop was with him. That was how Luke found himself walking to his usual table in the library. Pushing aside his crumpled uniform, the blonde got his notebook and a pen out of his backpack before going to find a suitable book. Using the internet would have been faster but his teacher had clearly pointed out that she wanted to see references from books. Luke frowned as he trailed his finger along the shelves, scanning the titles in concentration.

“Boo!”

Luke jolted and quickly turned around to see Michael laughing hard. “Fuck! You scared the shit out of me.”

“That actually was my aim,” Michael managed to say as he tried to calm himself. “What are you doing here at this time? Aren’t you supposed to be in class? Where’s your uniform?”

“Shhh…” Luke whispered as he pulled Michael further down the aisle, making sure no one saw him. “My uniform’s in my bag. I’m bunking school.”

Michael again burst out laughing. “What are you doing here if you’re bunking? Wouldn’t you rather be hanging out with your friends elsewhere?”

“I didn’t do my work which I’m meant to hand in today. Calum pretended to be my dad and called in sick for me. I’m trying not to get caught. Can you please be quiet?”

“Of course,” Michael smiled. “I think I have what you need. Do you want my notes?”

“Huh… oh-kay,” Luke said slowly. Why would Michael do that?

“Because I want to help you and technically, you’d be done faster if you just copy my notes.”

“Why did you say that?” Luke frowned; he was sure he did not ask that question out loud.

“I’m guessing you’re wondering why I’d help you,” Michael chuckled. “Just wait here. I’ll be right back.”

Luke nodded and looked at Michael’s retreating figure; there was something captivating about him that Luke could not understand. The wait was a short one and Michael returned with the notes, handing them to Luke. Luke opened the notebook and smiled when he took a look at the contents; Michael was right, everything he needed was right there.

“Can I take it home? I’ll give it back to you tomorrow, I promise,” Luke looked at Michael expectantly.

Michael smiled. “Sure, I don’t need them… at the moment.”

“You have no idea but you’re such an angel,” Luke grinned.

“Do you wanna hang out? I mean, if you’re free.”

“Yes, I’d like that.”

“Come on then.”

“Hold on, I need to get my stuffs.”

The moment Luke shoved everything in his backpack and closed it, Michael took his hand and dragged him to the back of the room. He slid to the floor and motioned for Luke to do the same. Without much hesitation, Luke dropped his bag and took a seat next to Michael. They were in the far end of the library, secluded from everybody, and Luke was glad he would not have to worry about getting caught.

“Michael?” Luke raised an eyebrow.

“Hmm…” Michael hummed, his hands fidgeting with one of the bracelets that he was wearing.

“Why aren’t you in class?”

Michael bit his lips as he diverted his attention from his bracelet to the other; he wished Luke would stop asking so many questions. “Umm… I’ve already covered the current chapter at my old school and I excused myself to complete some other work,” Michael smiled, making Luke’s lips curve upward as well.

“Did you finish your work then?” Luke asked, trying to have a casual conversation with the guy. It may not have been their first meeting but he still did not quite know anything about the blonde.

“You ask so many questions,” Michael laughed and shook his head. “Yes, I’m done.”

Luke moved from his spot, to sit opposite from the boy, and crossed his legs under himself. He shook his head and looked down in his lap, a slight colour of pink tinting his cheeks when he realised Michael was cheekily smiling at him. _‘Does he ever stop smiling?’_ Luke asked himself because ever since he met the blonde, he could swear he had seen him smile over a hundred times.

“Where are you lost?” Michael placed a hand over Luke’s and the other boy lifted his head to look at him.

Luke quickly pulled his hand away and scratched the back of his head. At first, he thought that it was all his imagination and he decided that if it were not, he was only going to ignore it but at that point, it was obvious that Michael was flirting with him. If Luke was to be honest, he actually did not mind it. He did not know why but he thought that it was somewhat attractive. Besides, Michael was such a pretty boy. Luke mentally slapped himself and turned his attention back to the boy, who was still looking at him, his eyes roaming all over Luke’s feature. One thing Michael was glad about was that Luke was still wearing the bracelet that he had given him the previous day.

“I see that you still have my token,” Michael stated, motioning to Luke’s wrist.

“It’s a pretty bracelet,” Luke beamed. “Thank you.”

“Not prettier than you,” Michael smirked and stretched his legs in front of him, placing them on each of Luke’s sides.

Luke eyed the leg that was on his left side and let his gaze move up Michael’s leg, to his chest, to finally look into Michael’s eyes. Those pretty eyes that were so full of mysteries. Mysteries; Luke did love them but only when he could figure them out.

Very slowly, Michael placed both his hand on Luke’s knees, looking back into Luke’s blue eyes to see his reaction. Luke did not move or say anything, he only stared back at Michael. He was too caught up in the blonde that he seemed to have forgotten about everything around himself; the only thing that he remembered was to breathe. Michael grabbed the front of Luke’s t-shirt and pulled the boy to him, crashing their lips together. Luke closed his eyes at the contact and got on his knees as Michael held on to the material of his shirt. After ten seconds of being in that position, the blonde took Luke’s bottom lip between his own. The moment Michael’s lips moved against his, Luke placed his hands on Michael’s shoulders and pulled away. He stared at the other boy, his eyes wide in shock, before picking his bag and getting up. Mentally kicking himself, Luke briskly walked out of the library. What had he been thinking?

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

Luke applied some more paint to his canvas and smudged it with his fingers. His hands were working but he did not know what they were doing. His brain was too busy with other things to bother what his hands were doing. It had been five days since his last encounter with Michael and it seemed like he could not bring himself to forget it. How did he let that happen? That answer, he himself did not know. It was not like he was attracted to Michael or anything. He had to admit that the other boy was rather good looking but that was where it stopped. Luke did not fancy him. Why would he? He was in love with Calum. Luke smiled at the thought of the brunette, as usual, whenever Calum popped in his head, that silly grin automatically appeared on his lips.

Thanks to Calum who had called in sick for him, he had an extra day to complete his thesis and thanks to Michael’s notes, he did not have anything to do but to copy it. Michael’s notes, Luke had promised to return them the next day but that was five days ago and he still had the notebook lying on his desk. Honestly, he was apprehensive about meeting Michael. He did not know how to face him. His lips still tingled at the thought of that kiss. It may not have lasted long but it still brought an uneasy feeling in him.

“Hey,” Calum said from the doorway. When he received no answer, he realised Luke had his earphones on and possibly did not hear him. Calum walked in the other boy’s direction and wrapped his arms around him, pressing a kiss to the side of his neck.

Luke immediately smiled and leant in closer into the warmth of Calum’s body. “Hey, when did you come?”

“Just now. Wow, what are you painting?”

The blonde looked at the canvas that was filled with black paint. “Uhh… I guess I’ll have to start over.”

Calum hummed. “Do you wanna go for a walk?”

“Yeah,” Luke smiled. “Just give me five, I need to wash my hands.”

“Ok, hurry.”

Luke’s five minutes seemed longer than it should and Calum impatiently looked out of the window.

“I’m ready,” Luke walked to Calum and wrapped his arm around his waist from behind.

“What took you so long?” Calum turned in the embrace.

“”I had a hard time scrubbing the paint off. Look at this. It looks so disgusting.”

Calum took the offered hands and looked at them. There were black stains on Luke’s skin and around his nails. Bringing them to his lips, Calum placed a kiss to each of them. “I’d still love you even if your hands were like this for the rest of your life.”

“No, you wouldn’t.”

“Yes, I would.”

“You’re too sweet.” The blonde leant forward and pecked him on the lips. “Shall we go?”

“Yeah.”

Luke held his hand and walked out of his room and down the stairs. “Mom, I’m going for a walk with Calum,” he called out to his mother, who he could hear was busy in the kitchen.

“Ok, don’t be late, sweetie.”

“Yeah, I’ll be back in an hour,” Luke called while opening the door and stepping into the cool evening breeze.

The two of them walked quietly, side by side, hand in hand, enjoying each other’s company in the silence of the night, for the past ten minutes before Luke abruptly stopped.

“What happened?” Calum turned to look at his boyfriend.

“Huh…nothing. I thought I heard someone behind us.”

Calum took a look at the dimly lit street then turned to Luke again. “There’s no one following us. Must be a part of your imagination.”

“Maybe… I’ve been really tired lately.”

“Come on,” Calum tugged on Luke’s hand and they kept walking further down the road to the children’s park.

“What are we doing here?”

“Spending some time together, alone, under the stars, in the moonlight,” Calum pressed Luke’s back against a tree and pressed himself against the other boy.

“Calum, what are you doing? Not here… what if someone walks in on us?”

“It’s like 9pm, who’d come to a children’s park at this time? Besides, even during the day this place is deserted sometimes.”

“Ok…”

Calum connected their lips together and Luke immediately closed his eyes as he let out a sigh and kissed him back. There was that thing about Calum that was so sweet, so adorable and sometimes so innocent that Luke could never bring himself to refuse him anything. In the rare occasions that he did, he always felt guilty about it and ended up giving in to Calum after apologising. The thing that Luke loved about Calum was that he had never taken advantage of that or the fact that he was Luke’s weakness and Luke loved him more and more each day for that. Luke pressed his hips to Calum’s when the older boy slid a hand lower to cup his ass. He lifted one leg and hooked it at the back of Calum’s thigh, bringing their bodies closer before wrapping his arms around the other boy’s neck.

Luke pulled away and turned his head to the right when he felt someone’s eyes on them. Realising they were alone, he again took Calum’s lips between his own. Calum thrust his hips against Luke’s, causing the blonde to open his mouth and gasp. The older lad used that situation as an opportunity to shove his tongue into Luke’s mouth and play with his tongue. Luke moaned, rotating his hips against Calum, wanting and needing to feel him closer.

“What’s wrong?” Calum asked when Luke pulled away.

“There’s someone over there, watching us,” Luke said quietly, pointing to a tree to his right.

“There’s no one there,” Calum stated the obvious.

“But I’m telling you I saw someone standing over there by that tree.”

“Alright, calm down,” Calum took hold of Luke’s hand and started walking.

“Where are we going?”

“To check it out.”

“What? No, we’re not. What if it’s some serial rapist?”

“In that case, we really should check. Come on.”

“I’m scared,” Luke mumbled as he let himself be led to the tree.

“See, there’s no one here.”

Luke peeked around the tree and there indeed was no one there. “How’s that possible? I’m sure I saw Michael over here. He was leaning against the tree and watching us.”

“Luke, there’s no one here.” Calum took Luke’s face between his hands and made the younger boy look at him. “Maybe it’s your imagination. You said yourself that you’re tired.”

Luke sighed. “Maybe,” he shrugged although he was certain he saw Michael standing there, watching them. He was certain that was not a part of his imagination. “Can we go back? I’m tired and I have to wake up early tomorrow.”

“Of course,” Calum smiled as he linked their fingers together and walked back in the direction that they had come from.

**O.O.O.O.O.O**

Luke entered the library and walked to a table in the far end corner of the room when he noticed a familiar face there.

“Where were you last night?” Luke questioned as he dropped a notebook on the table.

“Hey, good to see you too,” Michael laughed sarcastically.

“Where were you?” Luke again asked.

“Yeah, I’m good too. How are you? Where have you been? You totally disappeared after the other day.”

“That does not answer my question. Where were you?”

Michael shook his head. “What do you mean where I was? I was where I should have been, at my house.”

“You’re sure?”

“Well yeah. You wanna call my mum and confirm?”

Luke sighed and pulled a chair, dropping himself on it. “No… I thought I saw you last night… at the park… but then you weren’t there anymore…”

“What? What do you mean I was there and then I was not there anymore?”

“I dunno…” Luke closed his eyes and pressed his thumb and index against the bridge of his nose.

“If I was there I couldn’t have vanished into thin air. That’s impossible. Maybe it was just a figment of your…”

“My imagination? But it seemed so real.” A shiver ran down Luke’s spine. He had not been able to get over that episode. Even if Calum had told him it was only his imagination, he could still feel the intensity of Michael’s stare on them while they were kissing.

“Luke?” Michael shook his shoulder. “Where are you lost?”

“Nowhere…”

“You know, if someone hears you, they’ll think you’re nuts. People just don’t disappear.”

“You’re right. I was tired and my mind was playing tricks on me. So, tell me about you. How have you been?”

“Good… how about you? So long since I last saw you. You totally went missing after borrowing my notebook.”

“So you thought I stole it?” Luke raised an eyebrow.

“That’s not what I meant. All I’m saying is I didn’t see you since that day.”

“Sorry about your notebook. I know I promised I’d return it the next day but I was kinda busy.” Luke pushed the notebook that he had slammed on the table in Michael’s direction. “Thank you, you were a life saver. I dunno what I’d have done without you.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it. It was a pleasure that I could be of any use. So, you wanna hang out?”

“Now?”

“I dunno… later if you want, after school?”

Luke thought about it for a moment; Calum had piano practice after school that day and Luke did not have anything to do. “Yeah, that’d be cool.”

“Great,” Michael smiled one of those gorgeous smiles of his that made Luke want to keep staring at him. “So, why did you disappear after the other day? Because of what happened?”

“What is it that happened?” Luke asked, confused. “What are you talking about?”

“You know… we kissed and then you left in a rush. I didn’t see you since that day and then you just showed up today, accusing me of stalking you.”

The kiss. In fact, Luke had not forgotten about it. He actually felt guilty about it, felt guilty about doing that behind Calum’s back. Was it like cheating? No, Luke shook his head; he would never cheat on Calum, he loved him too much for that.

“Where are you lost again?” Michael smiled.

“Nowhere… I wasn’t saying you stalked me. I was only asking where you were.”

“Ok. Why did you run away?”

“I wanted to. Why did you kiss me?”

Michael raised an eyebrow. “I wanted to.” He kept his eyes locked with Luke as he slowly licked his lips.

“Umm… I’m getting late for class. I’ll see you after school,” Luke said and smiled before turning around, clearly flustered.

“See you,” Michael grinned.

The blonde watched as Luke walked in the direction of the exit; whether Luke admitted it or not, Michael was certain that he must have felt something after that kiss. He took the notebook that Luke had left on the table and smiled at it. “You know how lucky you are?” Michael said to the notebook. “And I’m luckier to have you ‘cause if it was not for you, Luke would probably not come back here. Whatever it is Luke, I know that no matter what, you’ll come back in the end,” Michael smiled to himself and walked to the back of the library.

**O.O.O.O.O.O**

Calum pressed some random keys on the piano and let his mind drift to Luke. Luke, Calum sighed happily; that boy could always bring a smile to his lips, no matter what situation he was in, especially the situation that he was in at that moment. Calum groaned inwardly when the teacher asked him to start from the beginning again; seriously, if she was not his teacher, the dark-haired lad would definitely have hit her on the head already. It was like the tenth time that afternoon that she had asked him to do that; _‘start again from the beginning’_. Then he thought back to Luke again. The faster he was done with his piano rehearsals, the more time he would get to spend with Luke.

“Mr Hood, are you listening to me? Again…”

“Yeah, from the beginning,” Calum finished for her and sighed.

“Correct,” Ms Debbie said firmly.

“Hey, are you alright?” Ashton whispered to him.

“I’m fine. She’s just really getting on my nerves,” Calum shook his head and made a face.

“No, I think you’re pissed off because we weren’t supposed to have any rehearsals today,” Ashton laughed when the brunette rolled his eyes. “I bet you’re thinking about what you and Luke would be doing if you weren’t stuck here with me.”

“Fuck you!” Calum scoffed and earned a glare from the teacher. “I love hanging out with you. It’s just… I don’t get what she expects from us.”

“Mr Hood, I hope you won’t mind sharing your thoughts with your other friends as well,” Ms Debbie commented.

“No, of course not. I was just telling Ashton that we have to be perfect,” Calum smiled sarcastically.

“That’s right. You have to be perfect and you’re not,” she said with a strict look on her face and Calum rolled his eyes while Ashton snickered behind his hand. “Again.”

Calum groaned as he again started from the beginning and muttered to himself. “You want perfect. Fine, I’ll give you perfect.”

Two hours later, Calum and Ashton were finally gathering their stuffs and getting ready to head home. Without wasting one more minute, Calum rushed out of the building and sighed happily once he was outside. He was relieved to finally be out of that place; he loved doing that and piano classes were the second things after Luke and Ashton that made him happy but that day was really not a good one.

“Hey,” Ashton called as he ran after the brunette. “Where are you going so fast?”

“Umm…” Calum bit his lips, trying to hide his smile. “To meet Luke.”

“You could meet him tomorrow,” Ashton proposed and shrugged.

“I know but today I have that strong feeling about meeting him. It’s like I just want to be with him,” Calum sighed.

**O.O.O.O.O.O**

“You’re late,” Michael laughed and pointed to the clock that was on the wall.

“I’m sorry, I…”

“I’m kidding,” the blonde laughed harder and playfully punched Luke in the shoulder. “I thought you were ditching me again.”

“No, I was just finishing some stuffs,” Luke smiled and adjusted the strap of his bag on his right shoulder. “So, where do you wanna go?”

“Anywhere, as long as you’ll be there with me,” Michael smirked and followed the other boy as he made his way out of the library.

Luke decided to ignore Michael’s comment and abruptly stopped in his track, causing the other to crash into his back. “Sorry,” he mumbled and quickly pulled away when Michael did not move. “You didn’t tell me where you wanna go.”

“Wherever you want,” Michael grinned. “Umm… Luke?”

“Yeah?”

“How’d you know I was in the library? I mean, we never said where we would meet.”

“Huh…” Luke thought for a moment; indeed, how did he know where to find Michael?

Michael smiled and shifted closer to Luke, whispering in his ear. “I’m glad you know me that well.”

“Well,” Luke playfully pushed Michael and smiled. “I always find you there, it was no big deal.”

“You have a point,” Michael nodded. “But I could have been somewhere else.”

“But you weren’t,” Luke laughed. “You’re such a boring person.”

“Am I now?” Michael raised an eyebrow and bit his lower lip, again moving closer to Luke. “I can prove you otherwise.”

“And how are you gonna do that?” Luke placed his hand on his hips and turned to face the other boy with a raised eyebrow.

Michael smiled as he looked at Luke in the eyes. Those eyes, Luke wanted to look away but somehow he could not. They were so captivating that Luke wanted to let himself get drown in their depths. What was happening to him? Michael reached out and took both of Luke’s hands into his, placing a light kiss to each of them.

“Let me show you,” Michael smiled again, still holding Luke’s gaze, and all Luke did was nod.

Very slowly, Michael took forward steps in Luke’s direction while Luke took backward ones, until his back hit the brick wall of the school’s corridor. Luke closed his eyes when Michael interlinked their fingers and inched his face closer to Luke, feeling Luke’s breath on his lips. Wetting his pale lips, Michael pressed them to the corner of Luke’s mouth and pressed their bodies together. He smiled when Luke parted his lips slightly, to let out a shaky breath, before aligning his lips to Luke’s lips. As their lips grazed, Michael closed his eyes as well and fully pressed their mouth together. Two minutes into the kiss, they were both vigorously sucking on the other’s lips, with Luke’s hands wrapped around Michael’s neck while one of Michael’s hands was underneath Luke’s shirt, feeling his warm skin, and his other hand was trailing down Luke’s side. He snaked his hand behind Luke’s thigh and lifted the latter up as he thrust his hips against Luke. When it was getting harder to breath, Luke pulled away and pressed their foreheads together. He slowly opened his eyes and looked into that pair of green eyes before letting his gaze trail to Michael’s lips; those lips that he wanted to taste again. Luke did not know what he was doing but he leant forward and closed the gap between them, kissing Michael again.

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

Luke bit his lips when Michael took his hand and pulled him back inside the library, guiding him to the back. He moaned when Michael again pressed their lips together. Without wasting time, he eagerly moved his lips against the other boy’s; he did not know why but kissing Michael was very addicting and he could not help himself but want more. It seemed like when he was with Michael, nothing else mattered. He bit his lower lip and closed his eyes as the other boy kissed his neck and slipped a hand under the top of his uniform. Luke lifted a leg and hooked it behind Michael’s thigh, bringing him closer. At that, Michael almost let out a moan but he restrained himself.

“We have to be quiet if we don’t want to get caught,” he whispered against Luke’s lips before pressing a kiss there.

Luke nodded and let himself be guided to a nearby table. He sat on the edge of the wooden table when Michael lifted him off his feet, immediately wrapping his arms and legs around the other boy. Michael smiled into the kiss when Luke crashed their mouth together again. Things were definitely going in a direction that Michael was liking; finally he had gotten Luke right where he wanted, in his arms, against him. Somehow, that was still not enough, he needed to feel more of Luke, more of his warm skin. Luke pulled away to catch his breath and pressed his forehead against Michael’s, looking right into his eyes before kissing him again. Luke did not know how long it had been but when he opened his eyes, he was naked and so was Michael. Michael directed his mouth to the side of Luke’s neck and bit him hard, causing the boy to yelp.

“Shh…” Michael pressed his palm to Luke’s mouth as he turned to look at the entrance of the library.

Luke mouthed a ‘sorry’ and tilted his head backward when Michael attached his mouth to his jaw, kissing him along his jawline. He darted his tongue out and licked his way further down to his neck and then to his chest, to take one of Luke’s nipples into his mouth. Threading his fingers through Michael’s platinum blonde hair, Luke tugged on the blonde locks and let out a gasp when the other boy sucked his nipple into his mouth. His free hand travelled to Michael’s back and he pressed his lower body to Michael’s, digging his fingernails into the milky white skin of Michael’s back and dragged them all the way down. With a smile, Michael pulled away and looked into Luke’s eyes as the marks that Luke had just given him faded away. He pushed Luke backward so that he was lying on his back on the table. Slowly, Michael leant forward and licked the length of Luke’s penis before taking it into his mouth. Luke felt a shiver run down his spine the moment Michael’s tongue made contact with his penis; honestly, at that instance, his sanity ran out of the window. His hands gripped the edge of the table and he let out a gasp when the other boy sucked him deep and pulled away with a pop.

He lifted his eyes to look into Luke’s eyes as he guided two fingers past Luke’s balls and to his ass. He slowly pushed them inside and waited for Luke to adjust before moving them around. Sucking on his bottom lip, Michael pulled his fingers out and pushed them back inside, repeating the movement several times. Once he was sure Luke was ready, he replaced his fingers with his penis. Luke closed his eyes when Michael connected their lips together. When he opened them again, it seemed like he was in some kind of trance. Everything around him seemed to have disappeared and all he could see was Michael, who was biting on his lips and looking at him. It was just him and Michael, with their bodies hitting against one another as Michael moved in and out of Luke. Hands roamed over each other’s bodies, their breathings were erratic as they shared saliva-coated kisses.

Luke buried his fingers into Michael’s hair, occasionally tugging on the locks while they kissed. Michael rolled his tongue around the head of Luke’s penis before sucking him into his mouth, making sure to alternate the pressure to make it good for Luke while he rotated his hips and pushed forward into Luke, his hips kissing Luke’s ass with each forward thrusts. Michael was sucking him? But Michael was kissing him; how was that possible? Luke quickly opened his eyes and sighed against Michael’s mouth; Michael was only kissing him. What a weird thought he had gotten but it felt so real. Michael placed Luke’s heels on his shoulders and tilted Luke’s hips upward, allowing himself to go deeper with the new angle. In turn, Luke rotated his hips against Michael’s, trying to meet up with each of his thrusts.

A gasp escaped Luke’s lips when Michael wrapped his fingers around his neglected penis. He immediately fisted the erected organ, twisting his hand from time to time but keeping up with the same pace as his hips. Luke placed both his hands under his head, lacing his fingers through his short hair as he squeezed his eyes tight and breathed through his open mouth. With all the treatment that he was getting from Michael, his body was on the edge. A cry escaped his lips as he came onto his stomach. His heart was racing and he tried to calm himself while one of his legs ran up and down Michael’s chest. His breathing was still uneven when Michael collapsed on top of him. Luke smiled as he wrapped his arms around the other boy.

“Wow…” Michael laughed as he settled beside Luke on the floor.

The floor? Luke frowned; when did they get on the floor? He was lying on the table and Michael was standing between his legs. How did he not realise they moved?

“Hey, where are you lost?” Michael asked as he pushed away some hair that were stuck to Luke’s sweaty forehead.

“Nowhere,” Luke smiled before pressing a kiss to the other boy’s lips. “We should probably leave before someone catches us.”

“You’re right,” Michael got up and nodded, offering Luke a hand and helping him to his feet as well.

Luke quickly pulled on his clothes and ran a hand over the front, to smooth out the wrinkles. He waited for Michael and the two walked side by side, occasionally smiling at each other as they made their way out of the school.

“I go this way,” Michael pointed to the opposite direction that Luke was going. “I’ll see you at school?”

“Yeah… bye,” Luke smiled.

“See you then,” Michael waved at him and turned around.

Luke shook his head as he walked to the bus stop, a smile never leaving his lips.

**O.O.O.O.O.O**

Calum leant against the doorframe as he watched Luke; he was shirtless, had a loose pyjama pants on, had a towel hanging from his shoulders and he was drying his hair with one of the loose ends. He tiptoed into the room and wrapped his arms around Luke’s waist, causing the other boy to smile and turn around in the embrace.

“Hi,” Calum whispered as he pressed their foreheads together.

“Hi to you too,” Luke whispered back.

“Where have you been? It’s the first time I’ve seen you in two weeks. I don’t see you at school and when I came by to meet you, your mom told me that you were not home.”

Luke looked at Calum; two weeks? Had it really been that long since he last saw his boyfriend? He had not realise that. “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again. I promise.”

“Anyways, where have you been?”

“I was just hanging out with Michael, nothing great.”

“Michael?” Calum raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, the new boy. He doesn’t have any friends, so… enough about him, tell me about you.”

“I’ve missed you,” Calum said as he pressed his lips against Luke’s moist ones.

“I’ve missed you too,” Luke mumbled against his lips.

The two boys stared into each other’s eyes for long minutes, neither of them saying anything and neither of them moving. The intensity of the stare was high but they did not break the eye contact, not even to blink. Slowly, they tilted their heads at the same time and their lips met halfway, gently moving against one another. The blonde wrapped his arms around Calum’s neck tighter, crashing their chests together as they sucked onto each other’s lips. Calum trailed one of his hands lower and cupped Luke’s ass, causing the other boy to open his mouth and gasp. Using that as an opportunity, the brunette slipped his tongue past Luke’s lips and licked to roof of his mouth. They both turned their heads to the side when something fell to the floor with a thud. Luke looked at the book that bore ‘Beyond These Walls’ on the cover and he was about to pull away to pick it up but Calum held him back.

“I love you,” Calum mumbled as he pulled Luke back to him.

Luke sighed. “I love you too.”

Again, they pressed their lips together, impatiently kissing each other, sucking on each other’s lips, playing with each other’s tongue, pulling away to catch their breath before going back at it. Luke wrapped both his legs around Calum when the brunette lifted him off the floor. Calum took a few steps forward and pressed Luke against the wall, for some extra support. He pulled away and looked at Luke; his lips were swollen and pinker than usual, his eyes were filled with passion and he was looking at him while biting the corner of his lower lips. Trailing a hand up Luke’s naked side, Calum pulled on the towel that was still hanging around Luke’s neck and tossed it to the floor. He then moved his hand along the side of Luke’s neck, to cup his cheek. Slowly licking his lips, he moved to kiss Luke again. The brunette took hold of Luke’s hands and pinned them against the wall, above his head. He let out a gasp when Luke thrust against him.

“Luke, can you come down here, honey?” Liz called from the bottom of the stairs.

“Be right there, mom,” Luke replied, trying to sound as casual as possible before pressing a few more kisses to Calum’s lips. “Be right back, don’t move.”

Calum ran a hand through his hair as he sighed. As he turned to pick the book that had fallen, he realised it was nowhere on the floor, in fact, it was on the desk. Weird but Calum had other things occupying his mind to bother about the book. He stared out of the window and chewed on his bottom lip. Was Luke bored with him? Was that why he was not meeting him? He could also not deny the fact that he had seen a hickey on Luke’s neck when he had removed the towel. Was Luke seeing someone else? He knew he loved Luke and that Luke loved him back. He also knew that no one else could have come between them but did things change? Or was it all a part of his imagination?

“Hey, mom was telling me to get my backpack. I left it on the kitchen counter,” Luke stopped talking when he realised his room was empty.

Calum left? Without telling him? Something was wrong because the other boy had never done that before. Luke walked back and forth in his room as he thought about it. He cursed as he stepped on the towel that they had carelessly thrown to the floor. Picking it up, he tossed it on the back of his chair and resumed his pacing. Some really confusing things were happening to him and he could not seem to find any explanation, no matter how hard he tried. It looked like he was getting more and more tangled in something that he could not get out of. Luke jolted when he heard a knock on his window. Frowning, he walked in the direction of the noise.

“What are you doing here?” Luke asked as he opened the window.

“Aren’t you gonna let me in?” Michael raised an eyebrow but he also had a smile on his lips.

“Get in,” Luke sighed.

“Hi,” Michael grinned as he stepped next to Luke.

“Hi… ok, what are you doing at my window? Why couldn’t you use the front door like everyone else? And how the hell did you climb up there?”

“Woah… so many questions? Well, to answer them all, I wanted to throw rocks at your window, you know, the good old-fashion way but then I figured that could be messy. So, I just climbed up and knocked at your window. So, how have you been?”

“Since you last saw me, this afternoon? Good, what about you?”

“I was good… but now that I’ve seen you, I’m actually feeling loads better,” Michael laughed.

“How come you’re here?” Luke asked as he leant against his desk and watched Michael drop himself on his bed.

“I was missing you, I guess, and I wanted to see you,” Michael pressed a kiss to his palm and blew it in Luke’s direction.

“Ok… so, are you trying to be charming or something, by blowing kisses and stuffs?” Luke creased his eyebrows.

“You could say that… come here,” Michael looked at Luke and patted the mattress beside him.

Luke sat next to the other boy and looked back at him. “What?”

Michael placed his index against the back of Luke’s hand and trailed it up his arm and along the side of his neck, where the hickey he had left earlier that day was, to curl his fingers at the back of Luke’s neck. Without saying anything, he guided Luke’s mouth to his own and without any protest, Luke kissed him back. Slightly pulling back, Michael licked Luke’s lips and then the inner side of his cheek. Michael gently pushed Luke backward and hovered over him, looking at him. He bent down and attached his lips to Luke’s neck, kissing his Adam’s apple, as he rotated his ass against Luke’s penis.

“Honey?” Liz called as she knocked on the door. “Dinner’s ready.”

“Michael? Hold on,” Luke breathed when the other boy kept going. “Stop…”

Michael quickly pulled away. “Sorry… I… I should head home.”

“What are you doing?” Luke asked when Michael got off the bed and walked to the window.

“Going home?”

“Don’t be silly. I’m not letting you go by the window. Come on.”

Hesitantly, Michael followed Luke down the stairs; he knew he should not be doing so but he could not bring himself to refuse Luke. He brought a small smile on his lips when Luke turned to look at him; he did not want Luke to feel bad or anything.

“Hey mom, this is Michael,” Luke said as he passed the kitchen.

Michael immediately tensed up. What was Luke doing? He did not want to meet his mom. “What are you doing?”

“He came to pick some notes,” Luke added and shrugged.

“Hello Michael,” Liz greeted.

“Hi,” Michael said in a small voice, relieved when he noticed Liz had her back turned to them. “I gotta go,” he mumbled to Luke.

Luke nodded and walked the other boy outside and waved at him before going back inside. He shook his head as he thought about how Michael had come in; by the window. However his smile vanished when he remember how Calum left, without saying a word to him. His mind had been busy thinking about Calum and then Michael showed up all of a sudden. All his thoughts about Calum or anything else vanished and all he could think about was Michael; it was like he was cut off from the world. Then something caught his attention: he had never told Michael where he lived. Quickly opening the door, Luke rushed outside and looked on the right and left side of the street but there was no sign of Michael. How was that possible? He could not have gone so fast, unless he came by car or something but Michael had not come by car and Luke had seen him walking away. Whatever it was, it looked like he would have to ask him at school. Sighing, Luke went back inside and made his way to the kitchen.

“So, where is he, your friend?” Liz asked, glancing up from whatever she was doing.

“He’s gone already.”

“I guess he did not want to meet me.’’

“No… why would you say that?”

“I said hello and he never answered back.”

“What?” Luke stared at his mom with a shock expression.

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

“Ow,” Calum groaned as he rubbed his upper arm and glared at the boy next to him. “Why’d you do that for?”

“I called you four times and you did not answer so I figured…” Ashton shrugged.

“You figured you’d punch me in the arm?”

“Yeah, at least I got your attention now. So, what’s up?”

“I dunno,” the brunette sighed.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ashton asked and dropped himself beside the other boy.

“I… uh… I dunno…”

Ashton turned to the side and looked at the brunette, who was staring at his hands. Something was wrong because why else would the normally cheerful Calum be sitting so quietly? “Hey, what’s wrong?”

“I dunno.”

Yep, something was definitely wrong with him but what, Ashton wondered. “Is it Luke? And don’t you fucking say I don’t know again.”

“Maybe…”

“So, it is Luke. Did you guys…”

“What? No, we didn’t break up,” Calum shook his head.

“Uh, I was gonna say, did you guys have a fight.”

“Oh. We didn’t have a fight but did you notice anything different about him lately?”

“Uhh…” Ashton tapped his index against his jaw, trying to think. “He’s been acting kinda weird.”

Calum lifted his head and frowned. “Weird?”

“Yeah, like the other day, I saw him during lunch time. I waved at him but he just walked past me, like he didn’t see me.”

“That’s impossible. Luke would never do that.”

“And there was that other time when I saw him in the hallway, just outside the library, talking to himself. I always knew that guy was crazy but this is bordering madness.”

“I think he’s seeing someone else,” Calum said, out of the blue.

Ashton burst out laughing at that statement. “That’s impossible.”

“But that’s what it looks like. It was hard for me to believe as well but…”

“But?”

“I went to meet him and saw a hickey on his neck. And guess what? It couldn’t have been me because I had not seen him for two weeks before that.”

“But who? I haven’t seen Luke with anyone. Whenever I see him, he’s alone and it’s like he’s trying to avoid me.”

“Michael maybe? He seems to be hanging out with him a lot lately.”

“I don’t know. I’ve never met him. Who is he anyway?”

“I don’t know,” Calum again sighed. “I haven’t met him either.”

“Well, let’s find out then.”

“I don’t know what it is but something is wrong. I can feel it.”

**O.O.O.O.O**

Luke again turned in his bed, those words never leaving his mind. It had been two days but he still could not forget them. _‘I said hello and he never answered back,’_ his mom had said but Luke had heard Michael say hi to his mom. How was that possible? Unless of course, his mom did not hear it because she was too busy. Luke was so frustrated, he wanted to scream. He wanted answers, needed them but somehow he could not understand what was going on. He again sighed; ok, maybe he was just over-thinking about it. It was probably just his… no, Luke shook his head; it could not always be his imagination. Something was happening and he could not ignore it every time, not anymore. But what was it? Why was he so lost?

He wish Calum was there with him at that very moment, holding him tight and telling him that everything was fine but he had been trying to call the brunette all afternoon and could not get through, not even once. Also, he had not seen or talk to Calum since the other boy left two days ago, which was also odd because normally, Calum would call him every day or at least send him a text if he was too busy. Two week, Calum had said it had been. How did he let that happen? Most importantly, how did he not realise he did not speak to Calum for two weeks? Where was his mind? Was it him or was it Calum? Was the other boy bored with him? Did he not want to date him anymore? Had things change between them? Was Calum moving on? Or was it him? So many questions but no answers.

Then his mind drifted to a particular boy; Michael. That was when things started going upside down in his life. Ever since he met the blonde, all he could think about was him. Maybe he should call Michael and chat with him. Maybe that would clear some questions. Luke reached for his phone but then stopped mid-way when he realised he never did ask Michael for his number. He did not know where the other boy lived. He did not even know the last name of the guy. That was when he realised he did not really know anything about Michael. Damn! What kind of friend was he? All of a sudden, Michael felt like a stranger. Why didn’t he ever try to find anything about Michael? Why did he like to hang out with Michael so much? Was he attracted to Michael? So many more questions but still no answers.

Without knowing anything other than his first name, Luke had sex with him. What kind of person did that make him? What kind of person do that behind their boyfriend’s back? Luke felt disgusted with himself. He should probably meet Calum and sort things out between them. Yeah, that was what he would do. Pushing the covers aside, Luke got up and sat on the edge of the bed, going through things one more time in his head. Michael, who was standing outside Luke’s window, frowned and closed his eyes. Instead of getting up, Luke got back under the covers and closed his eyes, instantly falling into a deep sleep.

**O.O.O.O.O**

“Hello,” Calum groaned sleepily as he pressed his phone to his ear.

“Don’t tell me you’re sleeping,” Ashton snorted.

“In case you had not realise, that’s what people do at night, normal people.”

“I am normal, there just are more important things to do right now. So, get up.”

“What can be more important than sleeping?”

Ashton sighed in exasperation. “Luke? Ring a bell?”

“What about him?”

“Seriously Calum, get your ass out of bed. Now!”

“If you’ll explain things to me, maybe I’ll get out of bed. Let me sleep. Good night.”

“You know what? You make me want to come over and kick your ass right now. Did you forget we have to find out about Michael?”

“Right now? It’s 1a.m Ashton. Can’t it wait until morning?”

“No, it can’t. We can’t break into the school’s archives in broad daylight, can we?”

“Breaking into the school?” Calum hesitated. “That does not sound like a very good idea.”

“Do you have a better one?”

“No, not really…”

“Then get your ass over here. I’m waiting.”

“Stop shouting. Where are you?”

“Outside the school gate. I’m going in. Meet me there.”

“Can I change your mind?”

“Why do you have to be such a pussy? Where’s your great sense of adventure?”

“Adventure? This is not adventure, this is looking for trouble.”

“Come on, I’m doing this for you,” Ashton urged.

“Ok, I’ll be there…”

The moment that left Calum’s mouth, his curtain flew and the picture of him and Luke that was on his bedside table fell to the floor. Calum jolted at the sound of glass shattering.

“What was that?” Ashton asked from the other side of the line.

“Nothing… just the wind. I’ll meet you there in half an hour.”

Ashton slipped his phone into his pocket and took a quick look around. When he was sure the coast was clear, he climbed over the fence and jumped on the other side, smiling to himself when he made a perfect landing. Honestly speaking, he felt like a secret agent. He ran towards the building and made his way to the archives, cursing when he realised the door was locked. He slapped himself on the forehead for acting so stupidly; he should have anticipated the door would be locked, which he did not. That meant he had to go around and find another opening. If he was lucky, a window would be open, if not, he would just have to break it. A small window was opened on the other side and Ashton smiled; that just made things easier.

But not so luckily for him, the window was quite high and he could not reach it. Ashton looked around himself, in hope of finding a ladder or something else to help him up but then shook his head; that would be too much to ask. Then his eyes caught it, the pipe. Ashton confidently walked to it, it was easy to climb up a pipe; he had seen it in movies countless times. Adjusting his backpack on his shoulders, he took hold of the pipe and began climbing up. Ashton panted when he reached about half way; doing it in real life was a lot harder than it looked on telly but he was not giving up. He breathed a sigh of relief once he reached up and slipped inside. If he had known, he would have brought some rope but he only brought a sandwich and a bottle of coke, just in case.

Okay, he was inside, now what? First things first. Ashton moved to the door and unlocked it, to make it easier for Calum. Quietly he open the said door and poked his head outside, making sure no one was around before closing it again. He switched on the computer and tapped his fingers against the desk, waiting for it to turn on. He got to his feet and walked to a shelf, scanning some files in the meantime, in order not to waste time, which they did not have much. He went back to the computer and looked for Michael. That being a common name, he did get a few results. He knew about half a dozen of those guys and he had not seen any of them anywhere near Luke. About the rest, none of them had recently joined the school.

Ashton sighed as he again walked to another shelf, his eyes scanning; although he was not really sure what he was looking for but hoping he might get a clue. He stopped when he reached an old dusty box that was labelled ‘Library Incident’. The library; that was where everything started. Could that have any connection with whatever was happening to Luke? Picking the box up, Ashton brought it to the table, opening it and looking inside. There were mostly articles from newspapers, very old articles. He squinted at the date, July 1996. He let his eyes scroll down the page and stopped when they landed on a familiar name, Michael.

Ashton rushed back to the computer and typed in Michael Gordon Clifford. He impatiently tapped his foot against the wooden floor as he waited; the computer was so slow and it gave him the impression that his new laptop was so much more futuristic. His eyes widened as he read more and more about that Michael. Such a big incident happened in their school and yet, he had never heard anybody mention it before. He needed to show that to Calum. Where was he anyway? What was taking him so long? It was past 40 minutes since he talked to the boy. Without wasting time, he decided to print everything out and get out of there before he really did get in trouble.

“Michael Gordon Clifford,” he whispered as he again waited. He turned his eyes to the ceiling when the light above his head blinked a few times but then shook his head as he reached for the print outs. Ashton stared at the pages in shock; they were blank. How was that possible? Ashton’s eyes widened when he felt a hand on his shoulder and someone whispered behind him.

“Hey.”

Ashton gulped and slowly turned around. “Holy fuck, Calum! Don’t do that again. You nearly gave me a heart attack.”

“What’s that you have?” Calum pointed to the papers in the other boy’s hands.

“That’s nothing. I’ve got to show you something.”

The two boys moved to the computer and the moment Ashton touched the mouse, the device turned off.

“What was that?” Calum frowned.

“I dunno but some really weird shits are happening. You gotta call Luke.”

“Right now?”

“Yes, tell him to meet us…”

“But he’s probably sleeping.”

“Just call him, he’s in trouble.”

“Trouble? What kind of trouble?” Calum looked at Ashton blankly.

“Call him already. I’ll tell you all about it later. And tell him to bring that book.”

“Ok,” Calum sighed as he dialled Luke’s number. “Hey Luke, can you meet me right now? It’s really important. Please?”

“Do I come to your house?” Luke asked.

“No, meet me in the school library and bring the book. There’s something we have to tell you about Michael.”

“Michael?”

“Yes, hurry, I’m waiting.”

“I’ll be right there.”

“Ow, why do you keep hitting me?” Calum asked as he put his phone back in his pocket and rubbed the back of his head.

“The library? Seriously?”

“What’s wrong with the library?”

“Everything. Come, I’ll show you.” Ashton picked an article from the box again and handed it to Calum, who hesitantly took it.

“What’s this?”

“Read it.”

“The library incident,” Calum read out loud before scanning the content. “Michael Clifford, 16 years of age, hanged himself to the ceiling fan of the library. Later on that afternoon, the whole library caught fire and everything in there were reduced to ashes.”

“Check the date,” Ashton mumbled.

“July 20th 1996.”

“No, not the date of the article. The date of the incident.”

“July 16th 1996. That’s Luke’s birthday.”

“I know… we need to show him these and I also got his file.”

“You don’t think Luke’s been meeting up with a ghost, do you? Because that’s not really possible.”

“I don’t know, we’ll find out when we meet Luke. Let’s go.”

Before they reached the door, which Calum had left open, it closed with a loud bang.

“What the fuck?” Calum asked as he tried in vain to open it.

“Let’s try the window, that’s how I came in.”

Again, before they could reach the window, it also closed and the room went dark.

“Still don’t believe in ghosts?” Ashton asked quietly.

“Shut up Ashton. Let’s find a way out of here. We need to get to Luke.”

**O.O.O.O.O**

“Calum? Where are you?” Luke called as he walked into the dimly lit library.

“He’s not here.”

Luke spun around when he heard a familiar voice. “Michael? What are you doing here?”

“I’m always here Luke,” Michael smiled as he walked in Luke’s direction.

“Stay away from me,” Luke warned as he took retreating steps backward. “Where’s Calum?”

“He’s right where he should be, with that friend of his.”

“What did you do to them?”

“Nothing… don’t worry, Love,” Michael whispered and ran the back of his hand across Luke’s cheek.

“What do you want from me, Michael?”

“I don’t want anything from you. I want you.” Michael wrapped his arms around Luke’s waist.

Luke closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to resist Michael. “Let me go. Please.”

“No Luke, you’re mine. I wouldn’t have had to do this if those friends of yours did not poke their noses in matters that did not concern them.” On that, Michael leant in and pressed his lips to Luke’s unwilling ones.

“Luke?” Calum called when he heard a loud thud and ran in Luke’s direction, with Ashton by his side. Before they could do anything, Luke and Michael disappeared into the book and it closed in front of them.

“The book,” Ashton said moving closer to it but before he could take it, it also vanished into thin air.

“Luke, no,” Calum called to the boy, who was no longer there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow... This is it. I really hope you all enjoyed it xx


	6. Chapter 6

Calum looked at the time on his phone and sighed; Ashton was seventeen minutes late. He took a seat on the cold sidewalk and let his eyes rest on a picture of him and Luke that was on his phone. Again letting out a sigh, he stared blankly ahead as a tear rolled down his cheek. It had almost been twenty-four hours since that incident in the library and he still could not get that image out of his head. Why did that happen to them? Why Luke? He could not lose Luke because of some unexplainable things, no, he simply could not. Calum hugged his knees tighter to his chest and rested his head on top of them. He did not know how long he stayed that way but he quickly lifted his head when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Luke?” the boy quickly turned around.

“Hey,” Ashton simply said. “Have you been crying?”

“No,” Calum mumbled and wiped his nose in the sleeve of his sweater.

“You’re such a terrible liar,” Ashton stated.

“I wish I could have done something…”

“It’s not your fault, you know? How were you gonna fight a ghost?”

“Still…”

“Don’t worry, we’re gonna find him.”

“But how?” Calum looked at the other boy expectantly.

“I don’t know yet but there must be a way and we’re gonna find it.”

“But like you said, he’s a ghost. Maybe he’s here right now, listening to our conversation and we don’t even know because we can’t see him.”

“For someone who did not believe in ghosts, you know quite a lot,” Ashton laughed, to lighten the atmosphere.

“What are we doing in front of Luke’s house anyway?”

“Uhh… to find some clues?”

“Yeah but how are we gonna get inside? Are we breaking in again?”

“By the front door,” Ashton shrugged.

“What are we gonna tell Liz?”

“Nothing… just let me do the talking, ok?”

“Oh-kay,” Calum replied unsure.

“Come on,” the other boy said, urging Calum to follow him. The moment he reached the door, he knocked and waited. “Hi,” Ashton smiled when Liz answered.

“Oh hey, how are you boys?”

“Good, thank you and you? You don’t look so well,” Ashton said as he looked at the woman in front of them.

“No, I’m alright,” she said with a small smile.

“Actually, we wanted to meet Luke,” Ashton smiled too, causing Calum to turn to look at him; what was he up to? He knew very well that they saw Luke disappear. “He didn’t show up at school today and we wanted to make sure he’s ok.”

“Why don’t you two come in and have a seat?”

Calum grabbed Ashton’s arm as he followed the boy inside; he was definitely not having a good feeling about what would come, about what Liz would tell them. Ashton placed a hand on top of Calum’s hand and nodded positively while following Liz inside.

“There’s something you should know about Luke,” Liz started slowly.

Calum stared at the woman; she was definitely going to tell them that Luke went missing. “What about him?”

“This morning, he did not show up for breakfast.”

The moment Liz said that, Ashton pressed a hand to Calum’s back as the brunette’s breathing was considerably faster than before and he did not want him to have a panic attack of any sort in front of Liz.

“I went to call him but he was still asleep. I couldn’t wake him up. When we took him to the hospital, they said he was in a coma.”

“A coma? But…”

“Calum, calm down,” Ashton whispered before turning his attention back to the woman again. “I’m sorry. Umm… Liz, I was wondering if we could grab some notes from Luke’s room. If you don’t mind of course.”

“Of course you can,” the blonde woman smiled.

“Thank you.”

“So, what notes are we here for?” Calum asked as he picked up a notebook and Ashton closed the door.

Ashton rolled his eyes at him. “Are you really that dumb?”

“What?”

“We’re here to find some clues.”

“Right… but what are we looking for anyway?”

“I don’t know… it could be anything… but look everywhere.”

“But Luke’s in a coma,” Calum mumbled and dropped himself on the bed.

“That’s a good sign,” Ashton stated.

“My boyfriend is in a coma and that’s a good sign?” Calum turned to the side and hit the boy, who was sitting next to him, a few times in the arm. “Are you stupid or what?”

“What I’m saying is… it’s a good sign because at least his body is here and it didn’t just vanish. All we have to do is find his soul, which is trapped somewhere.”

“His soul?” Calum frowned.

“Don’t you ever watch movies?”

“This is not a movie.”

“Yeah, I’m betting it’s not much different in real life.”

“So, what do we do when we find the soul?”

“Get it in the body?”

“So, we’re just gonna say ‘hey Mr Soul, can you please get back in Luke’s body?’”

Ashton laughed. “Kinda like that I guess.”

Calum opened a drawer and went through it, trying to find something that could be of any help. In the meantime, Ashton walked to the shelf and scanned the content; if Luke’s body was in his room, there was a probability that the book was there as well but he found nothing. He lifted the mattress and peeked under it, shaking his head when he found a box of condom but nothing else.

“Hey, look at this,” Calum said and Ashton walked over to him. “I think this is…”

“Michael,” Ashton finished for him as they looked at the sketch that Luke had made.

“I still don’t understand what we’re looking for,” Calum sighed.

“A clue, any clue that could lead us to Michael and eventually to Luke.”

“I have a question.”

“What?”

“How are we supposed to find a soul, if that’s what we should look for?”

Ashton opened his mouth to answer but closed it again; he did not have an answer to that question. “I guess there’s nothing here… we should try elsewhere.”

“Elsewhere? Where else other than Luke’s room can we find something?”

“The library maybe?”

“No, I’m not going there again.”

“Don’t be such a girl. Meet me there in two hours.”

“The library at night?” Calum shuddered at the thought.

“It’s the best time to do it, especially when dealing with ghosts.”

“You’ve definitely gone out of your mind.”

“Chill, I’m kidding…” Ashton laughed.

“Can we go tomorrow, during the day?”

“When the library is full of kids? No… we’re doing this tonight. The sooner the better. You want Luke back, don’t you?”

“Of course, is that even a question? You know I do. Without him, I feel like I’m going insane.”

“Exactly… meet me there in two hours.”

**O.O.O.O.O**

“Why are you doing this?” Luke asked as he looked around himself.

“Luke, calm down. Everything is fine now,” Michael reassured.

“Fine? How can you fucking say that? How can everything be fine when I’m trapped in this... I don’t even know what this place is…”

“It’s our place,” Michael smiled.

“Why are you doing this?”

“Because I love you and I want you to be with me.” Michael leant closer to press his lips to Luke but Luke pushed him away.

“Stay away from me,” Luke shouted as he stepped backward.

“We’re never gonna be away from each other, ever.”

“Why?”

“Because we belong to each other,” Michael stated and pushed Luke against the wall. “Nothing and no one can come between us anymore,” he added and again pressed his lips to Luke.

Luke closed his eyes when he felt Michael’s lips against his. He wanted to push the other boy away but he simply could not; he felt like he was no longer controlling his body and he was kissing Michael back. Michael smiled as he wrapped his arms around Luke’s waist, just like he wanted. He bit on Luke’s lips while one of his hand ran down Luke’s side and he shifted even closer than he already was, deepening the kiss. Luke wrapped his arms around Michael’s neck and tilted his head to the side when Michael pressed his tongue to his lips and he opened his mouth to allow the other boy’s tongue in. To take it to another level, Michael thrust his hips against Luke’s. That was when Luke realised what was happening and he opened his eyes before pushing Michael away.

“Please Michael, don’t,” Luke shook his head.

“I know this place seems new to you but you’ll get used to it.”

“No, I won’t because you’re gonna let me go.”

“No, you’re going nowhere.” On that, Michael disappeared.

Luke dropped to the floor and sobbed. Why did that have to happen to him? He swore if he ever got out of that place, he was never going to visit the library again. However, the big question was: how was he going to get out of there?

**O.O.O.O.O**

“I thought you were bailing out on me,” Ashton said when Calum walked to him.

“I can’t believe I’m breaking into the school again. You’re definitely bad company.” Calum muttered as he followed Ashton.

“Hey, I’m doing this for you. Just be quiet.”

Calum rolled his eyes; there were no one close by and he was sure he was not even being loud. “So what now?” Calum stared at the library door.

“We go inside,” Ashton took a deep breath.

“This place gives me the creeps.”

“That makes two of us,” Ashton jolted when a branch hit against the window. “Shit!”

“Who’s the girl now?” Calum laughed lightly.

“Shut up… so, we scan all the shelves… if we’re lucky, we’ll find the book… or something else.”

“All the shelves?” Calum looked from Ashton to the shelves.

“Yeah, all of them.”

“That’s gonna take us like all night.”

“Well, we better get started already. I’ll do from there to here and you do from here to other there, ok?”

Calum made a face as he walked to a particular shelf, quickly eyeing its content. As he walked along the tall shelves, all he could find were books, more books and even more books but nothing that could be useful to them. He walked further towards the back of the library and hesitated for a few seconds as the light above his head turned off. He hands started to shake and his breathing sped as he looked around in the darkness. Getting a grip of himself, he reached for his phone and turned on the flashlight before wandering further. Three hours later, the brunette leant against a table and sighed; nothing bad had happened and he was done with his half. His legs bounced frantically as he impatiently waited for Ashton so that they could get out of there.

“Boo,” someone whispered behind him.

Calum shouted but turned around when he heard Ashton laughing. “Don’t fucking do that again. I swear I could’ve died.” He pressed a hand over his heart as he let out a deep breath.

“Alright,” Ashton giggled. “Anything?”

“Nope, you?”

Ashton shook his head negatively and pulled out a chair, dropping himself on it. “I’m exhausted. Now I remember why I don’t like the library; there’re too many books in here.”

“I know…”

“Guys, I’m so glad you’re here. Please let’s get out of here. I don’t wanna be here any longer,” Luke smiled in relief and walked to the two of them.

“Any more ideas in that head of yours?” Calum asked as he also took a seat.

“Guys? Guys?” Luke called out. “This is not funny.”

“It’s useless. They can’t hear you. They can’t even see you,” Michael shrugged and leant against the wall.

“What? Am I dead?” he asked himself.

“Technically no but it’s not like you’re alive either. Anyways we have each other, that’s what’s important.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“I told you I love you,” Michael smiled.

“Calum,” Luke whispered as he looked at the boy.

“Luke,” Calum also whispered and closed his eyes.

“What?” Ashton frowned.

“Nothing… for a second, I felt like Luke was here but I guess this is just a part of my imagination.”

“But I am here,” Luke said to the boy, who could not hear him.

“Hey, we’ll figure something out,” Ashton patted his shoulder.

“Yeah, I know. Can we go? I don’t wanna be here.”

“Yeah, let’s go.”

“Guys, stop. You can’t go, don’t leave me here with him,” Luke called out them but they left the library and closed the door behind them, leaving Luke with Michael, who wrapped an arm around Luke’s waist and pulled him away.


	7. Chapter 7

Calum took Luke’s hand into his and looked at the boy as his thumb stroked the back of Luke’s hand. He could not stop blaming himself for what had happened. During countless occasions Luke had told him that strange things were happening but he had always told the other boy that it was only his imagination and to stop worrying. Luke was lying motionless on that bed and it was somehow his fault. If only he had taken the time to listen to Luke, paid attention, none of that would have happened. Unfortunately, when he had chosen to act, it was too late. He would never be able to forgive himself if something ever happened to Luke. No, he should get that thought out of his head; nothing would happen to Luke because Ashton and he were going to fix things. Calum pressed a kiss to Luke’s hand and then rested his forehead against it, closing his eyes.

“Hi,” Ashton whispered and looked at the boy, who was still sitting next to Luke since he left that morning. “You’re still sitting here, in the same place. I knew you wouldn’t get up from here, that’s why I got you some lunch.”

“I already ate. I left thirty minutes after you, I just came back,” Calum smiled.

“Thank god. I thought you were gonna keep staring at Luke and starve yourself.”

Calum kicked Ashton playfully. “I have to keep my energy level high ‘cause remember, we have a ghost to fight.”

“Good.”

“Did you find anything else?”

“The book has completely disappeared and surprisingly, there has never been any record of it in the school library. I don’t believe there is such a book.”

“You can’t possibly mean the book does not exist, you saw it too,” Calum said as they both walked out of the room that Luke was in.

“The only solid thing we have is the sketch we found in Luke’s room.”

Calum hummed. “How are we gonna deal with Michael when we can’t see him?”

“Interesting question. How do you fight something when you don’t know what you’re up against?”

“Exactly. Remember that night at school when we found out about Michael and wanted to warn Luke? Remember what happened? Whatever we’re gonna try, I’m betting Michael will try to stop us.”

“Yeah, it’s not gonna be easy but we’re not giving up. For now, let’s focus on Luke.”

“We’ll get him back though, won’t we?” Calum asked quietly. Even though he was ready to fight Michael, deep down he was also apprehensive about what Michael might do to them and to Luke.

“Of course.”

“I’m scared.”

“I know but think positively.”

“I don’t see anything positive in this situation.”

Ashton smiled and threw his arms around Calum’s shoulders. “Well, there’s two of us against Michael, who’s alone. That’s pretty positive.”

“It is, until you mention the part where he is a ghost and obviously much more powerful than us two, mere mortals.”

“I’m glad I don’t think like you, otherwise we’ll never get far in this mission.”

“I’m just being realistic and you’re just being… I don’t even know what you’re being.”

“Well, come on then, my mortal friend, we have a big task to do.”

**O.O.O.O.O**

Michael again looked at Luke for the fiftieth times and the other boy had not moved from the spot where he was sitting on the floor, nor did he say anything for long hours. He just sat there with a blank expression on his face. However much Michael would try to cheer him up, he just would not budge, that sadness in his eyes never left. Michael stopped his pacing movements and walked over to Luke, kneeling in front of him and cupping his cheeks. He let out a sigh when Luke again did not react and walked away. He knew with time Luke would get used to things but he would have to do something about that because he was eager to see Luke smile at him again, laugh with him and talk to him. It was hard for him to see Luke in that state; it was almost like dying all over again.

The moment Michael left, Luke got to his feet and started shouting Calum’s name, although he knew it was useless; no one could hear him from that place. He decided to take advantage of the fact that Michael was not there to try and find a way to get out. One thing he was sure about, everything started when he found that strange book. He also remembered when Michael took him captive, he was sucked in into the book. That was when his brain started working faster. If he reached there by mean of the book, maybe the book was a portal between that place and the world he knows. He was not sure about anything but he was not going to rule out any possibilities. He had to find the book.

Taking a breath, Luke walked to the door that was on the far end of the room. Ever since he was trapped in that place, he had not seen anything beyond those walls but not for long though. He opened the door and found himself standing at the end of a long white corridor, aligned with several doors. Behind one of those doors lay the book that he was looking for and possibly a way out of there. Even if it was going to take him hours, days, he was going to go through them all. All he had to do was to make sure he was done before Michael was back. Luke opened the first door on his left and peeked inside. It was just another big white room. After a few door, Luke was actually thinking about giving up as all the room were the same as strange as the place but he kept going; his will to go back home, to his parents, to Calum was stronger.

**O.O.O.O.O**

After days of walking around, going through doors to doors, that seemed never ending, Luke finally returned to the very first room that he was in, not surprised at all to see Michael there. As hesitant as he was, he gathered the courage to ask Michael to let him out of there, just for a few hours. Michael was going to refuse but seeing as no one could see or hear Luke, there was no harm in letting the other boy wander around and that was the first time since he brought Luke to that place that he saw the boy smile. Luke was not expecting Michael to readily allow him out but was glad that he did. The moment Michael had said yes, Luke found himself standing at the back of the library. That was all he had to do, ask, but he had chosen to sit there for days and ignore Michael.

Even though he had said he would never visit the library again, he let out a happy sigh when he found himself there; anywhere else was better. Quickly, he walked over to the shelf where he had first seen that jinxed book that was the cause of all his troubles. He let his eyes scan the titles, in search of that particular book and hit his head against the side of the shelf when he did not find it. It was quite stupid of him to try and find it when he knew very well that Calum and Ashton had failed doing so. Instead of wasting his time, he decided to go outside where he would may be see the boy that he was yearning to see and indeed he did notice Calum, not far from the library.

As he got closer to them, he could hear them talking about Michael and Luke moved closer so that he could hear better. He was happy and relieved when he heard how the other two boys were trying to find a way to get him back. Instinctively, he ran his fingers through Calum’s hair but closed his eyes when he realised the brunette could not see or feel him. He wish there was a way he could communicate with them, help them in some way or have them help him. Then one thing Ashton had said struck him; he was in a coma. That was what Michael had meant when he had said that Luke was not dead but not alive either. He had to get to the hospital, he had to see himself.

The way from the school to the hospital was longer than Luke had thought as he had to walk all the way; since he was not technically a ghost, he could not travel from one place to another by disappearing and re-appearing. Halfway through, he wished a ghost bus would stop so he could get in or even a ghost bicycle would have been appreciated but there were no such things and Luke had to keep walking. He let out a sigh of relief when he finally walked through the doors of the tall building. As he walked through the corridors, trying to find himself, he wondered whether Michael could see him and would try to stop him from reaching himself. He closed his eyes and tried not to think about Michael, who somehow always found a way to creep into his head.

“What are you doing here?” Luke asked when he realised Michael was already in the room.

“Waiting for you,” Michael smiled.

Luke sighed; there was a time when Luke used to love that smile. “Are you following me?”

“I reached here before you. So technically, you are following me. But yes, I was.”

“Can’t you ever leave me alone for, like, five minutes?”

“It took you a while to get here. So, you were alone for more than five minutes,” Michael laughed.

Luke opened his mouth to say something when the door opened and he turned around to see Calum walking to the bed. The brunette leant forward and pressed a kiss to Luke’s forehead before turning to put some flower in the vase that was on the side. Luke could not help but smile at the action; Calum was always so sweet. Michael’s eyes never left Luke’s face and he wished the other boy would look at him and smile that way as well. Luke moved closer to Calum and closer his eyes when a strong feeling filled him inside; he wanted to leant in, hug him and tell him that he was right there but he knew he could not. Michael placed a hand on Luke’s shoulder and made the boy face him.

“Luke,” Michael sighed.

“I know you’re not a bad guy. I just don’t understand why…”

“What I value the most is your smile and I can’t see you like this. I love you and I wanna see you smile again.”

Michael leant in and pressed his lips to Luke’s while pulling on the black beaded bracelet that he had gifted Luke, the first time they met. Before he had the chance to understand what was happening, Luke felt a strange feeling inside, the moment the bracelet left his wrist.

“Luke,” Calum said when the boy coughed lightly. “You’re back.”

“Calum,” Luke smiled and reached out for the boy, who reached out halfway and hugged him. It was such a relief to be back.

“I can’t tell you how happy I am that you’re alright. It was all my fault. I should have believed you.”

“No, it was all my fault. I’m the one who willingly fell into this trap. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. You’re back and that’s what matters.”

**O.O.O.O.O**

A week later, Luke, Calum and Ashton were sitting at their usual table in the canteen, laughing. They had all decided to put behind whatever had happened, like a bad dream, and forget everything about Michael. Ashton rolled his eyes when the other two moved closer and whispered to each other, leaving Ashton to feel like the third wheel again, just like they had done many times before.

“You guys are mean,” Ashton complained. “I hate you, both of you.”

“Oh Ashton,” Luke laughed. “I know you don’t mean that.”

“How would you know?”

“If you did, you wouldn’t have help me and I’m forever grateful for that.”

Ashton smiled and pulled them into a hug.

“Michael?” Luke said as he pushed Ashton’s hand away.

“Not again,” Ashton groaned. “I thought we got rid of him forever.”

Luke got up and walked away. “Michael?” he again said.

“Yes? Do I know you?” the boy in question asked.

“Uhh… that’s a long story,” Luke smiled. “Come on.”

“Ok.”

“I’m Luke, by the way. Guys, this is Michael.”

“We know,” Ashton raised an eyebrow in confusion; why could they see Michael as well?

“How do you guys know me?” Michael asked. “I just moved here, two days ago.”

“Ok…” Calum said and turned to look at Luke.

“So, you’re real?” Ashton asked as he kept studying the boy.

Michael laughed at the question. “Are you trying to hit on me or something?”

They all laughed at that. By then, they had realised, that Michael was a different one. He was not the one who had caused them so much troubles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is it. Hope you enjoyed this as much as I did. Thanks for reading xx

**Author's Note:**

> Thoughts?


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